As Congress considers changes to the Affordable Care Act, a bipartisan group of governors is hoping to play an important role in the debate over a new health care bill. Gov. Phil Scott says the only way to tackle the issue is for Republicans and Democrats to work together.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders will introduce a bill next month to create a government-run, single-payer health care system. And he knows it's going to fail.

"Look, I have no illusions that under a Republican Senate and a very right-wing House and an extremely right-wing president of the United States, that suddenly we're going to see a Medicare-for-all, single-payer passed," he said recently, sitting in his Senate office. "You're not going to see it. That's obvious."

Congressman Peter Welch has positioned himself as a Democrat who wants to work with Republicans. Polls suggest that's what Americans want from Washington, but so far bipartisanship has been hard to find in a polarized Congress.

For supporters of the federal Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, last week’s failed vote to repeal the law was cause for celebration. But the future of federal funding for health care programs in Vermont remains uncertain, and advocates say they are not resting easy.

Senate Republicans plan to unveil a new version of their health care bill this week, but unless it differs substantively from the previous version, Rutland Regional Medical Center could lose $19 million a year in federal reimbursements, according to the hospital's CEO.

Sen. Patrick Leahy is strongly supporting Democratic Senate Leaders' plan to protest the secrecy surrounding Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act by slowing down the business of the Senate.

Former House Speaker John McCormack might be the most important political leader most people don't remember - or may not have even heard of. His time as a Massachusetts congressman spanned the presidencies of Calvin Coolidge to Richard Nixon, and he served as Speaker of the House during the turbulent years from 1962-1971.

Sen. Patrick Leahy is in a unique position among Senate Democratic leaders during the current session of Congress: He has the most seniority of any member of the Senate and serves as the senior ranking member of the Judiciary Committee and the Appropriations Committee.

All three members of Vermont's Congressional delegation say they're troubled by the testimony of former F.B.I. director James Comey concerning Russian efforts to influence the outcome of last year's presidential campaign.

Former FBI Director James Comey told the Senate Intelligence Committee that he believed he was fired by President Trump over the growing Russia investigation and that other arguments by the White House were "lies, plain and simple."